For those of you who know me, this post won’t come as much a surprise, but for those of you who don’t, well… let’s just say I have a mild fondness for the electric guitar and one of my all-time favorite guitar heroes would have to be Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.
Happy Birthday Jimmy!
So on this January 9th, 2010, I would like to wish Jimmy a very happy and special 66th birthday celebration. Having recently appeared in the film, ‘It Might Get Loud‘ (which I blogged about earlier, just click the link to the left) it has rekindled the interest and desire to have a tour which includes Jimmy. It doesn’t matter which form or shape it takes. It could be with or without Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, but at least some live music from Jimmy to satisfy the fans, including myself.
Of course, I could think of no better way to celebrate, than by posting some of the magnificient photographs of Ross Halfin. Without further adieux, here are some of my favorite images Ross has taken.
Enjoy!
Jimmy Page in Oakland, 1977
Jimmy Page from the early 1980s with telecaster guitar
Jimmy Page in 2009 posing with Les Paul guitar for a magazine cover
Jimmy Page in Los Angeles, June 2009 for premiere of the movie 'It Might Get Loud'
John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin in action during the 1970's
Well, it looks as though the Led Zeppelin reunion tour won’t be taking place after all. As reported on the John Paul Jones web site on August 10th, 2009 he’s joined a new supergroup called, ‘Them Crooked Vultures‘.
The new group features Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, former Nirvana drummer and current Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl and no other than the legendary John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. According to the official Them Crooked Vultures web site, they are slated to hit the road in October already. October 1st, they’ll be in Austin, Texas at Stubb’s and then they’ll be at the Austin City Limits Festival on the 2nd. Those of you who are familiar with PBS television will probably be aware of this excellent musical showcase program and hopefully there will be a broadcast of the event and performance of the band sometime in the near future. Check more Them Crooked Vultures tour dates to see if they are coming to your town.
It looks as though the web site allows you to participate in a forum, purchase an official t-shirt, sign-up for a mailing list and also explore a Google Earth feature that I’m still trying to figure out. I installed the plug-in, but I just get zoomed into an unknown location in France I think and can’t navigate out of it?
Here’s an image of the guys hard at work:
Live performance image of Them Crooked Vultures
YouTube videos of Them Crooked Vultures
There seems to be a lot going on in this realm at the moment and I expect more to follow soon. The teaser video sounds great! Song is called, “Scumbag Blues”. No images of the guys in the band, all visuals of vultures walking around in a very graphical layout. Quite engaging!
I would strongly suggest subscribing to their channel on YouTube to keep up-to-date on what they are doing. Here’s the link to the official Them Crooked Vultures YouTube Channel. There’s some pretty cool in-studio material plus some live fan videos. Here’s a studio video:
And yet one more glimpse from a secret gig at the Brixton Academy on August 26th, 2009:
Pretty interesting sounds, but it probably puts the Led Zeppelin reunion tour rumors to rest, which is unfortunate.
Hello again! I posted about Ace’s arrival to the world wide web back in April of this year in a post entitled, ‘Ace Frehley finally has an Official Web Site!!!‘. And now the time has come to mention that his newly recorded album is slated for release in just under two weeks! That’s right earthlings… the Aceman has been hard at work preparing us for his latest endeavor. September 15th, 2009 is the date the new recording hits the streets!
Ace Frehley Press Kit for Anomaly
The new album / CD is entitled ‘Anomaly’. Ace has put out an electronic press kit… check it out here:
Or check out the commercial:
Different Packaging for the Album
Pretty cool stuff for collectors as there is 3 different packaging options. One for Walmart, one for Best Buy, & one that’s just standard, but they are all pretty nice. Take a look for yourself! Nice job by the graphic design team, I must say.
Walmart Packaging of Anomaly from Ace Frehley
The Walmart packaging of Ace’s CD contains an Ace autographed tattoo!
Best Buy Packaging for Anomaly from Ace
The above Best Buy layout is printed on silver stock, like the Double Platinum Album from Kiss!
Standard Packaging for Anomaly from Ace Frehley
Anomaly from Ace Frehley is also available on iTunes!
That’s right… you won’t get any of the fancy packaging pictured above, but at least you’ll have the latest from one of the most influential guitarists of our time. Ace Frehlely Anomaly on iTunes.
Track Listing
1. Foxy & Free
2. Outer Space 3. Pain In The Neck 4. Fox On The Run 5. Genghis Khan 6. Too Many Faces 7. Change The World 8. Space Bear 9. A Little Below The Angels 10. Sister 11. It’s A Great Life 12. Fractured Quantum 13. The Return of Space Bear (Dedicated to Tom Snyder and an iTunes exclusive)
Go out there and support our spaceman who has so kindly graced us with his presence on September 15th with his first album in over 20 years!
Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s The Edge and the White Stripes’ Jack White together in a new film!
So call me dense or whatever you wanna call it, but this just slipped past me. I never even knew this was in the works, but once again, my following of the Ross Halfin web site uncovered this new film which is coming out soon. In Ross’ diary entry marked June 19th, he’s in Los Angeles with Jimmy for the premier!
The film is apparently about the history of the electric guitar as seen from the point of view of three significant musicians. The first being Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin fame, the second being the Edge from U2 and last, but not least, Jack White of the White Stripes. From the looks of the trailer, it looks like the film revolves around each individual guitarists personal style and approach to the guitar. From the looks of it, Headley Grange is visited by Jimmy and for those of you who are Zeppelin fans, you’ll of course know that the band recorded numerous time there and is especially noted as being responsible for the huge drum sound in ‘When the Levee Breaks’. Other notable bands also recorded or rehearsed at Headley Grange in East Hampshire, England. The song, ‘Black Dog’ by Led Zeppelin was named after a black Labrador Retriever which was found hanging around the during recording of their fourth album in the early 1970’s.
It looks like the film is scheduled for limited release in New York and Los Angeles on August 14th, 2009. There are some still shots viewable as a slide show at IMDB.com and here’s the trailer in HD below.
A recent magazine cover from the three guitarists in the film:
Jack White, Jimmy Page and the Edge
I will try to post more info here as it becomes available, until then, enjoy!
Ace Frehley, spaceman from the rock and roll supergroup Kiss, finally has an official web site! Ace has inspired many guitarists throughout the years and is now entering the cyber world via his newly launched web site and other various areas of the internet.
Ways to Follow Ace Frehley on the Web
I recently saw that he is now on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and even Twitter! He’s definitely out there making himself visible to the world. All of the various ways to follow Ace on the web are listed on his ‘Into the Void‘ page on his site.
His first video blog from April 2009 I’ll post here:
His band is in the studio now finishing up their upcoming release called ‘Anomaly’. Sign up for exclusive updates from Ace and his webmaster. Here’s an exclusive video of Ace solo tracking for the track ‘Pain in the Neck’ in his studio:
He’s also posted some really nice rare photos from his spectacular career. The official Ace Frehley web site photos section, called ‘12 pics’ has a few photos here, but I would suggest also visiting him on Facebook and MySpace to see some other nice images of Ace in action.
Recent Ace Frehley Sightings
Ace opening up the New York Yankee Stadium Hard Rock Cafe - April 2009
Ace at the New York Hard Rock - Halloween 2007
Ace Frehley with his new band - New Years Eve 2008
So there you have it. Ace is back and he told you so!
Update!!!
A recent interview with Ace at Amoeba Record Store in Hollywood, California. Check it out:
On April 4th, 2009 Jeff Beck was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland Ohio. Supporting him was none other than the legendary Jimmy Page! There are rumours Jimmy will make a few select appearances with Jeff on his current US tour, but check out these great clips of the two legends up on stage again. The two original Yardbirds together again! Wow!
Videos of Jeff and Jimmy at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Performance.
Here they are performing ‘Beck’s Bolero‘ and an instrumental ‘Immigrant Song‘.
You can’t imagine how excited I was to find out Dinosaur Jr have been in the studio recording a new album. Apparently, the title of the album will be ‘Farm’ and will be released on the Jagjaguwar label. The boys from Amherst, Maine have done it again! Created another collection of audio explorations for us all.
It looks like the tour will begin tonight in Portland, ME. Check here for more tour dates.
It looks like the tour will begin tonight in Portland, ME. Check here for more tour dates.
I got to see the guys back in 2007 and must admit, much to J Mascis’ chagrin (as I know he likes it when people complain about how loud they are), it was the loudest show I’ve ever been to… and I’ve been to quite a few shows in my time! Now they are back for another round with a new album to boot! I hope they plan to stop into Colorado on the tour sometime.
They were and still are, in my opinion, one of the best and most original Grunge bands to have come out of the 80’s and 90’s. There’s just something so tasteful about J Masic’s guitar playing that is unsurpassed. They were contemporaries with Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the Screaming Trees… just to name a few! They weren’t from Seattle, but they were well-respected by their peers on the west coast.
Dinosaur Jr as they appeared in 1987
A song entitled, “I Don’t Wanna Go There” from the upcoming release has been posted up to see the studio process of Dinosaur Jr. Just follow this link, Dinosaur Jr Studio Performance 2009 on the J Mascis web site. There’s also a video clip of them performing “Tarpit” in the studio along with a great extended video interview!
What’s really intriguing for me, at least, is to see J playing on his Fender Signature Model J Mascis Jazzmaster in these studio clips. It’s a way cool guitar and I’m lucky to say I’m the proud owner of one. Also worth watching, is the interview clip and the discussions on equipment as well as visuals of some of the gear the boys use. Excellent!
I wanted to post these video clips because I really find them interesting, but it wasn’t possible… didn’t find an ‘embed code’. However, I will post the YouTube video of J talking about the signature Jazzmaster. Interesting how he started out as a drummer (still is) and how he chose the Jazzmaster… he originally wanted a Stratocaster!
New Dinosaur Jr Session Material available for download! These a four songs available as a free download from the daytrotter web site. This is from a recording on June 9th, 2009. They perform ‘SEVERED LIPS’, ‘REPULSION’, ‘CRUMBLE’ and ‘BACK TO YOUR HEART’. Well worth the free signup for an account to get the downloads. The studio is called The Horseshack and is located in Rock Island, Illinois. Enjoy!
And while I’m updating, I might as well also let everyone know they should check out Dinosaur Jr on MySpace as they have some new material uploaded there… photos, videos and songs. Can’t wait until they roll through Colorado again!
And remember, the new album comes out June 23rd of this month.
Ok, so I thought I’d post something that covers two areas that are close to me… Music & Web Design. Having recently posted something on the David Gilmour site, I didn’t really find this too far off-base really. Plus, I got the notice on my MySpace page, went over to the new Clapton site and was pretty impressed. I even became a fan of his page on Facebook, so I guess you could say I’m a bit pumped about this?
The other item I forgot to mention, is that when I looked at tour dates, I noticed Eric was playing the Royal Albert Hall in London tonight (actually is now on stage as I’m writing this) & I wanted to jump on this opportunity to promote his site and his tour. The Royal Albert Hall is, for those of you that don’t know, quite the venue. It makes an appearance in the Beatles song, “A Day in the Life“. The line is, “Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall“. The hall is circular in shape and is well-known for it’s great acoustics. Many famous concerts have taken place here, so it would suffice to say that it has a bit of history behind it. It was built in 1871 and is still standing tall as one of the most sought after places for a musician to play. If you’ve played here, then you’ve pretty much made it as a musician.
Getting back to the Eric Clapton Web Site though, I’d have to say it’s one well-thought-out and laid-out site. I immediately went to the video section to find this great 1991 version of “White Room”, which is show above. Okay, so it isn’t Cream performing it, but Eric’s playing is still impressive. One of the most expressive guitar players I’ve ever heard… and that’s coming from a devout Jimmy Page fan!
I think the photo section will grow as the tour progresses and it certainly will be something else to see and hear Eric together with Stevie Winwood again on this tour. The video section also could be a little more robust, but the interviews make up for it. I always enjoyed listening to Clapton talk and this was no different. Pay special close attention to his take in the Concert for Bangladesh he did with George Harrison. Having just read his autobiography, these comments from him really hit home. I do kind of wish the music section, or discography rather, would include some small sound clips from the songs and then also have a feature to buy the song/songs from either iTunes or Amazon, but maybe that was a legal decision. The mini-player of Eric’s music at the top of all the pages is nice though… would be even nicer if while the song played and one navigated to a new page, the song would persist to play, but it does not.
A link to Eric’s enduring fight to help people with addictions is also on the site up top in the header. The facility is called, “The Crossroads Centre” and is truly an amazing thing Eric has given back to this world. All in all, a good site. It might need a little growing into and more content created or added to it, which I believe will take place soon. A site any Clapton fan would be please to visit.
So there you have it, my tribute to Eric Clapton’s start of a 10-night stay at the Royal Albert Hall starting tonight!
I’ve come across another great site… this one deals with the likes of the legendary David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. It’s really well done and goes through David’s gear setups and much, much more.
A lot of time and effort went into this one and you can tell. It’s called ‘Gilmourish‘ (http://www.gilmourish.com) and by the looks of it, it looks like it has been setup with Wordpress, a popular blogging tool and just so happens to be the one I employ to do this blog here. Anyhow, the producer of this site, Bjorn Riis does a fantastic job at going through almost everything Gilmour-related.
First Section of the Site…
Bjorn’s first section goes through David’s gear and is therefore titled, “The David Gilmour Gear Guide“. In his own words, he says:
In this section you’ll find information about David’s guitars, amps and effects on each Pink Floyd album and tour as well as David’s solo albums including the recent On an Island tour.
It’s really a nice touch on the right-hand side, where he’s broken things down into:
Guitars – Everything about David’s famed ‘Black Stratocaster‘, which recently got reissued by Fender Guitars in their signature series of 2008, or his Slide Guitars. Not too many people are aware of David’s slide work and he’s truly a master of the instrument!
Amps – Another nicely done part on the amps David uses or has used in the past.
Effects – Is one of my favorite sections. In it, there are photos of actual pedal boards and effects of David’s. Incredible stuff here! Check out the Animals Tour Effects Board.
Each section goes through things in complete detail, leaving no fan disappointed.
I
David Gilmour with famed 'Workman Tele' in 1984
It’s an absolutely stunning job Bjorn has done with this site. Kudos to him for spending the time and effort to share with us the information he’s collected.
I’ll continue my exploration of his site in a future post… until then, rock on and enjoy this amazing site!
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